


Steel and Sky

by AvaCelt



Series: EXO Prompt Fills [12]
Category: B.A.P, EXO (Band)
Genre: Caretaking, Gen, M/M, Narcolepsy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-07-17
Updated: 2013-07-17
Packaged: 2017-12-20 12:28:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,229
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/887282
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AvaCelt/pseuds/AvaCelt
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"Count the stars with me, Luhan."</p>
            </blockquote>





	Steel and Sky

"Count the stars with me, Luhan." 

The sky was free of clouds and fog that particular evening. Being a suburban district, one would expect the inklings of unearthly light to shy away, regardless of the cloud-free situation. The city was only an hour’s drive away. The city with the large buildings and its multitude of people. The city that hosted its ideologies and determination, the city that showcased its beauty and power to world- the city that had lost its taste for the little ones living above. 

One would presume the gods to bestow punishment upon the tiny earthlings that pumped smoke daily into the heavens and clouded the true beauty of the darkness with artificial light. But this particular evening, the children of the universe decided they wanted to come say hello. Despite the fact that city with the bright lights was only a runner’s track away. Despite the fact that the city and its inhabitants had forsaken the ones above for what was tangible below.

“ _You_  can count the stars. I’m going back to bed."

A tired and crinkled smile- like wisps of rain on a windowpane. “Come look at the stars with me."

"Nope." His face was set in a defiant look, his eyes narrowed and lips pursed tightly.

"Please?"

"No-"

"Please?" Yong Guk dropped his eyes as a shadow of a frown began to grace his chapped lips. Luhan, a man who seemingly had fortitude as magnificent as the concrete underneath his feet, grumbled. 

"Why must you do this to me  _now_? I have work tomorrow, damn it." He muttered breathlessly, shuffling next to the silently smirking man sitting contently with his legs crossed on top of the harsh ground.

"It’s not always that the heavens decide to let us take a peek," he smiled surreptitiously. “Look. There’s one right there." He pointed a shaky finger at a shooting flit of bright light that only he caught.

"What I fail to understand is why you find boring things so enamoring," Luhan continued to grumble. “Why can’t I go to bed like normal salarymen? Why can’t I go to work tomorrow looking as fresh and tidy as the rest? Why can’t I-"

Luhan saw that Yong Guk’s eyes were glittering with mirth, because he never really picked his head up to look at the sky to begin with. There was something much more mesmerizing right in front of him.

He pursed his lips together and brought his eyes closer to his figure, attempting to decipher whether or not he was still with him. Maybe was listening and waiting for Luhan to kiss him and tell him the stars were as wonderful as they seemed- or off on one of his quiet tangents. Though his eyes were fixed on what was above them, what he really looked towards was something beyond the brightness and lucidity of the night’s sky. 

Yong Guk had left again. And though the stars shone and cast and eerie shine over his crisp blonde locks and his darkly lidded eyes, he was oblivious. Oblivious to the fact that the stars were staring back at him as he looked at things beyond the beauty of the pricks of allure in the heavens. 

And he was oblivious to Luhan. 

"Come back to me." Luhan’s whispers were as fleeting as the shooting star. Almost as fleeting as Yong Guk’s attention- almost as fleeting as Yong Guk’s everything. 

Yong Guk blinked and a lazy smile crept up his lips. “I think I might sleep tonight."

Luhan snorted. “Are you sure I won’t be waking up to you staring at me like a sasaeng again?" But his expression remained grim and worried. He watched as the older man bit his bottom lip and recollected his thoughts. 

"I think," he admitted. “I mean, I don’t know. I might just curl up and stare at the window." He sighed with defeat. “I think… I think the stars are telling me something."

Luhan wanted to tell him that no amount of stars could rid him of the bane of his existence. But fortitude was obsolete when it involved the flighty older man. 

"They’re telling you to come back to me," he whispered. Yong Guk’s eyes began to glaze over again. He blinked tiredly, a sudden lurch of desperation gracing his featured. 

"Carry me home," he pleaded, the fatigue creeping into his bones. “Please."

Luhan focused on the man who was close to collapsing on the concrete ground of their driveway. His brown eyes were fixated on the bright and intantible dots above, though his mind was warring with itself. His eyes shined and faded at the same time. 

"I’m here," Luhan reassured. “I’m here."

He swayed in his seat, and since he was sitting cross-legged, began to rock back and forth lethargically. Luhan patiently waited for the right moment to come, and when it did, deftly wrapped his arm around Yong Guk’s person and picked him up. He he had his thin bones in his arms within seconds.

Despite the gloss over Yong Gukeyes, he still kept them centered on the sky. 

"Do you think I’ll ever be able to reach one?" He asked softly. His long and bony fingers attempted to point at something above and Luhan, finally, looked up. 

It was clear as it could be, and pinpricks of light dotted itself throughout the sky’s. There wasn’t much glory in it, however, but Luhan didn’t spend long nights staring out the window or at books or at the television screen. He slept, enamored with waking up to the light. He’d never taken the time to appreciate what the darkness had to offer because he was never awake for it. But Yong Guk was.

"Only if you take me with you," Luhan admitted. “Take me with you."

Yong Guk chuckled, snuggling close to his chest. “As long as you promise to be here when I wake up."

Luhan kept his eyes on the bright dots that would eventually disappear with the coming clouds. And when they did, they wouldn’t return for months- perhaps years. Because they were above, and the city dwellers only reached for whatever was impossible and possible at the same time. Because they inhabited the night, and city dewellers only respected the night if the night had something to offer, and the little beings of beautiful light above only offered themselves. Because they were the world’s delicacy, but Luhan had never tasted the daily fruit of the nighttime, so he wouldn’t know the taste of the forbidden fruit even if it hit him in the face. 

But Yong Guk was asleep now, and he’d be asleep for as long as he had to be. And tonight, Luhan would stay away, waiting for him to wake up like Yong Guk did whenever he went to sleep. And then he’d tell him that he would always be here, and if the visitation to the stars was a wish, they’d go together. 

And as Yong Guk slept- maybe he’d look upon the tiny pricks of light that came and went as frequently as miracles did. And while he watched, he’d run his hand through the latter’s hair and remind himself why he’d chosen the house in small village instead of the apartment in the towering complexes of steel. 

Yong Guk sighed contently in his sleep. And Luhan carried him home.

**Author's Note:**

> In case anyone was wondering, Yong Guk suffers from narcolepsy.


End file.
